Khmelnitsky

Hello all, from Khmelnitsky! I really hope that your week has been wonderful! Happy Birthday to Cherylee and Morgan this week, and a Happy Valentines Day as well!

What a crazy and wonderful week it has been! I am now in Khmelnitsky, which is just crazy, I feel like I am in my first transfer except I can understand and speak the language better, but other than that I have no idea what is going on!

This week was wonderful and so hard, I really didn't want to leave Lutsk, it broke my heart! We took our District picture and it is quite a doosy, you just have to love it! I think that we are the only ones that fully understand or appreciate how wonderful it is, but that is ok! It is just for us anyway!

Wednesday we went into L'viv by bus. It took us 4 hours and we enjoyed the last 4 hours that we had together. With everything that happened our District was super close and we all knew that it wouldn't be the same once we all got split up. In L'viv, kind of funny, the mission driver, Ihor, picked us up at the bus station and we were just telling him about all of our adventures this transfer and he said that it all made sense now. We were like what? What made sense? He said that we don't act like a District, he said there was something different from us as we interacted with one another, he said it was more like a gang. Like, we all had each others backs. He speaks english, so it was kind of funny to have him say that phrase.

It was really cool to hear him say that we even put off the vibe of being really close. When we dropped Elder Jolstead and Elder Mollinet off at one of the apartments before getting to the church, Elder Lippert gets back in the car and says, "I feel like my family just got torn apart by divorce." So pathetic, but that is just how we all felt. Trials will bring you together.

In fact, my little story became the central point in the training meeting this time. I guess that President asked Sister Edwards to go into training meeting and tell them all about our last transfer together and all that happened to let them know that missions are hard and that it is just ok to sit on the ground and cry sometimes, but after the trials you are blessed. It was quite ridiculous. My new District leader was like, I knew that the Elders joked about you being high maintanence but I had no idea that all that had happened. It was quite funny! I guess I have a reputation now, I just hope that it doesn't hold out for too long, or that it doesn't get topped by anyone.

I got into Khmelnitsky on Thursday and it is just wonderful! We had english that night and that was great! I got to meet one of the members here, Dima is his name. He actually just got his mission call the the L'viv Ukraine mission. So he will not being going far from home to serve. He is great, and his english is wonderful! He helps with my Ukrainian and english as well, by correcting it. When I gave a talk yesterday he took out a piece of paper and wrote down all my mistakes so that I could work on fixing them. Thanks Dima...

Friday and Saturday I just got acquainted with the area and id our weekly planning and some area book work. My new companion, Sister Plewe is just wonderful, but really shy. I think that I have talked her ear off and asked a million questions. I just want to know all about this town.

I am so excited to get out and do some missionary work here, I have missed it so much from being sick! This transfer is going to be interesting, that is for sure! So, here in K-town, it is really new still, like Uzh. It was almost like coming home on Sunday when there were only about 20 people at sacrament meeting and it is just small and lovely. I missed my little kids at church too! Oh, and p.s. our church shares a building with a club. So, you can go upstairs to the church or you can go down the stairs to babylon. It is quite interesting, there are always choices and consequences in life.

On Sunday we met with the branch president and some of the members. The members here are just SO excited to help with missionary work, they want the church to grow so badly here, it is just wonderful! I want to work with them and help them be able to share the gospel, it is going to be so great! I am excited!

Our District leader, Elder Asay, he is a good old farm boy from Wyoming, and I just adore him. He is just awesome and that typical farm boy, he wrestled, grew up with 5 brothers, he is just so great! He told me the other day that if I ever brake any bone just to call him and with some pvc pipe and duct tape he could fix me right up. It worked for his cows plenty of times... yeah. This is only his 4th transfer and he is district leader and training. His little trainey.. oh my goodness, he is just so little, especially compared to Elder Asay. Elder Obook, I guess is how you would spell. He is native. Actually, he speaks hardly any english at all.

I talked to him the other day for a bit and it is quite interesting for both of them. They really can't communicate super well. The other night they called me and Elder Asay had me translate for him so that they could have a real discussion about something. It is kind of crazy, he is such a great little missionary though, kind of shy. I have been trying to talk to him to help him out a little bit.

We also have another set of sisters in our district, this is a first for me, I have always been the only set of sisters. It is Sister Wallace, my MTC companion and her companion Sister Peterson, who was actually Sister Edward's companion in the MTC.

Our district is quite young, which is so crazy! I have always had older elders to kind of look forward to for help with language or translating. Not anymore! All I can say is that my language will be getting a lot better this transfer!

I am so excited for this next transfer, new city and I am healthy! This branch is just so little and I want to help it grow, the members want it to grow so badly, they are so wonderful! There is no place like Ukraine!

Love you all!

 Sister Shaughnessy

Transfers are here.....

What a great and crazy time it has been here in Lutsk this week! We had the sisters from Rivne come in and do an exchange with us. They are in a threesome right now, Sister Kelley, one of my sisters from the MTC, Sister Razhabova, she is a native, well kind of, she is from Russia. In fact if you watch the Kiev Temple dedication video she is in it, and Sister Wind, she is from P.G. and got into the country with Sister Edwards. It was so fun having them here, and the Zone Leaders from Rivne as well Elder Ream and Elder Pockrus, he is from A.F.

It was crazy having so many missionaries in the city and the five of us sisters in our apartment. We had so much fun and learned so much from each one of them. It was really amazing to be with Sister Razhabova, the people treat her so differently because she is a native. It is really neat to watch the way that she is with the people and how they respond to her, and she is SUPER helpful because Ukrainian comes very easily to her and Russian is her native language. I didn't know how much I really didn't understand until I served with her for a day, now I know.

We had such an amazing week though, for real! Oh, my goodness. Lutsk is just on fire with people who are ready for this Gospel. We have so many potentials and phonenumbers that we get to call, I am excited for the work here! Sister Edwards and I were talking this week and before this transfer we were all talking and all 6 of us in our District were sure that something big was going to happen this transfer here in Lutsk and I don't think I can say that their was one HUGE event that just happened that was life changing for the work here. We didn't have baptisms like crazy, nor did this monumental event happened that revolutionized the work going on here, however SO much happened and SO many great and wonderful things happened here for the missionary work, for the branch and for the people here and for the missionaries. I know that I learned so much about myself in this last transfer and these people here... I couldn't have done it without any of them, members and missionaries alike. There are so many amazing things happening here!

I am so sad that I won't get to be here to continue the work here in Lutsk. I am now being transferred to...... Khmelnitsky, I think that is how you spell it in english. Elder Jolstead is being transferred to be Zone Leader in Rivne and Elder Lippert is also being transferred, he will be Zone Leader in Ivanofrankivsk. So half of our beloved District is leaving. We are all so sad, we have spent 2 transfers together and I think that we had great unity because of certain events that have happened. I love these missionaries and members here SO MUCH! My heart is going to break having to leave.

Sunday was the best day of my entire mission, I also don't think that I have shed that many tears and that is saying a lot, I was crying quite a bit in those hospitals. It was fast Sunday yesterday, testimony meeting. There are so many families here in Lutsk that are just amazing, two of them being our Branch President's family, and the Voytook family. The Krokovsky's, our Branch Presidents family, have 4 kids, three daughters, Darinka is the olderst, 6, Olya, 4 and Nadia, 2, and there son Petro, 3 months. The oldest one is my best friend and shadow. Darinka follows me around the church and I just love her. Nadia, the 2 year old.... OH MY GOODNESS! She gets into my bag now and finds my lotion, perfume, and lip gloss and puts it all on then smiles as I tell her that she is a very beautiful girl. All three of them sit next to me during church, I now bring a coloring folder for them with pencils and all. I swear the hardest rule not to break on my mission is not being able to pick up or hold children!

Quick side note, Elder Lippert was making fun of me for saying that not being able to hold children is the hardest part of my mission. He is like, so when people say "Wow, you served in Eastern Europe and spent most of your time tracting and street contacting," you will say, what?! "Yeah, but even worse was that I couldn't pick up any children!" Funny person he is! However, that is probably very true, I don't know missionary work to be any different, but I really want to hold those cute little kids so badly!

Then, you also have to Voytook family. They are just living proof that the gospel blesses families. Oh my gosh! There son Illya, I was here for his baptism, he is 8, then their daughter Leah, 6 and Mark, 3, and Mark is a wild child! They are so great though! Brat Voytook is the MCL right now and is just wonderful. That family is wonderful...

So back to the full purpose of this story, yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. The Branch Presidency asked all three missionaries that were leaving to come and bear there testimony. I am already crying at this point as I sit next to these 4 little girls in church for the last time. They kept asking why I was crying and I would just smile and say that all was okay. I got up and bore a very quick and simple testimony, as I cried. Elder Lippert gets up and his testimony was great, as was Elder Jolsteads.

Then, Illya Voytook gets up to bear his testimony...

He says, "I know this church is true, I am grateful that my family can be together forever, and ......" He just starts tearing up and says, "I am grateful for the missionaries and all they do for us." Then he just starts bawling, and finishes his little testimony and runs down to his dad just sobbing because we are leaving.

Elder Lippert was on the stand, he is 1st counsleor, and he is just crying opening after that, I am bawling like a two year old, Sister Edwards is crying, I look back and Elder Jolstead is getting teary and same with Elder Peterson. It was the most powerful testimony I have ever heard in my life and I will never forget it, I am crying right now as I remember it.

It is all worth it. Everything that I have had to go through this transfer, everything that all of us 6 missionaries have had to do, all the disappointments, the cold, the contacting, the rejection, the crazy midnight hospital runs, the everything else that has happened this transfer... I would do it again, I know that all 6 of us would, if it ment that we could hear that testimony again. We are only in an area for a short amount of time, missionaries are only missionaries for a short amount of time, but that time is precious.

We find, teach and baptize so that little boys like that can have this gospel and know that their families can be together forever. It was powerful!

Another example of children being great examples, right after church we had a lesson with Zhenya, our lady with a baptismal date. We met with her on Saturday and it was wonderful. She has given us two referrals of people that she wants us to teach as well. She came to church yesterday, sadly, just at the tail end of sacrament, but stayed for the rest of the time. We wanted to watch the Restoration film with her and talk about her baptism.

We wanted to have a member on the lesson, but that didn't work out, however, my little shadow wanted to come with us, Darinka. We told her that she could come if she would like, but she had to sit and watch it. She sat through the whole movie and was so excited to point out Joseph Smith to Zhenya. Right after the movie ended Darinka left to go play with her sisters. As we talked to Zhenya about her thoughts on the movie, she said that she knows that it is true. She said that it was just a testimony for her to watch Darinka sit and watch this movie, knowing who Joseph Smith is and being excited about him. Zhenya has talked to the Krokovsky's and said that she can just feel the blessings that have come to them from this church and why would she not want to join!?!

I just want all of you to know how amazing this gospel really is and how much it really blesses families. Kids are such a great gift! They are so innocent, they trust so easily and laugh so freely, they are really our examples.

I love this work so much! I love that I can help people come closer to Christ through this Gospel, I love being able to tell people that they can be with their families forever! That is the biggest blessing! Lutsk is just on fire and they people here are being blessed by this gospel and prepared to receive it!

See you all next week, I will be in Khmelnitsky!

Love,

 Sister Shaughnessy

Concrete floors, Concussion and another trip to hospital

It isn't until after the trial of your faith that the blessings come. I am a true believer in that, especially after these past few weeks with all that has happened. I was as low as I think I ever could have been.
This week started out so much better, I was feeling great and there were no more doctor appointments or breathing problems. Look out, Sister Shaughnessy was back! I was feeling so much better, so Tuesday night we planned to go running the next morning. I wanted to do something that would get my body really moving again, but because I live in Ukraine there is about a good foot of snow on the ground right now, and I really didn't want to go running out in that and neither did my companion. Therefore, we decided to run stairs in our apartment building. There are 4 floors and we wanted to start out at the bottom and run up and down them for our half hour work out in the morning. If you don't know, in Ukraine the apartment buildings are completely made out of cement, stairs and all.

We both got up at 6:30 when the alarm went off, prayed, put on an extra layer and headed out. Ran up and down a couple of times, then I finally stopped at our door, on the second floor and said that I was too tired to do it anymore, but told my companion to go ahead, and I would just wait. I leaned against the door.... that is all that I remember. The next thing that I knew I was waking up at the bottom of the stairs asking Sister Edwards what had happened.

So, in the past 10 days I can say that I have received 10 shots, 3 X-rays and 1 MRI. The Elders took me to the hospital, again. I had an MRI and everything was found just fine. I just have a HUGE bruise covering most of my body and a nice size bump on my head. I also almost became a resident of a Ukrainian hospital because of it, but thankfully that didn't happen. I can't really tell you if I for sure had a concussion or not either. Each doctor kind of told a different story, but now worries. I am all good now.

The blessing that came out of all of this, Irena. A nurse that helped us, who just happened to speak english, so she translated for me, giving Elder Jolstead a break. We invited her to english and church. WHICH, she came to church on Sunday! It was so amazing!

I am happy to say, other than the one day in the hospital, the rest of the week has just been amazing! We were able to visit most of the strongest members in the branch and share some cookies and an uplifting spiritual thought to thank them for all that they do for the branch. Our branch president's family is just the best thing ever. They are so strong and to hear their conversion story from them just brought a special spirit. Our branch president, when he was first investigating the church, had a baptismal date, the service was planned and he just didn't show up to the service because he didn't want to. He never said anything to the missionaries, just didn't come. 5 months later he was baptized, but still..... I can't imagine he is such a spiritual giant now! His wife told us that we need to never give up and be diligent with all. Amazing example.

On Thursday we had an english miracle happen! For this round of english we have really been wanting to do a little extra to get people to have more interest in the church. So, last week we had a church tour after english and all who wanted to stay could take part, this week we decided to watch the Restoration movie after english with all who wanted to stay. Dima, the elders new found hairdresser (their haircuts... don't get me started on them, missionary work is about sacrifice) came to english with his 2 friends, Andre and Julia. They also stayed for the movie. Dima thinks that I am the best thing that has ever happened because I speak english and I am "in the industry of his passion." Direct quote. He just wants to talk hair with me and CHI, he really loves CHI. Andre, however took a Book of Mormon and Julia is a blessing.

She stayed for the movie, but didn't seem too interested in the church, however, she wanted to hand out some english cards for us. We called her yesterday to see how that went, she told us that we can expect 10 new people at english, which she said that she is going to call and remind them on Tuesday for us, and that 4 of them would be interested in meeting with us to discuss the gospel because they are interested in knowing why we are here. Oh, and she thinks that she would like to sit down and have gospel discussions about that guy in the movie, she said that it seems interesting to her, so if we have time she would love to do that with us..... Um... let me look at my busy schedule; tracting, contacting, tracting, english, tracting... maybe we can pencil you and your friends in!

Julia is such a blessing to have! We are excited to see how english will be now. Things are happening here in Lutsk!

Oh, and ZHENYA IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!

 Sister Edwards and I had a lesson with a lady, Zhenya, with whom we had met on the street when we did a book table. She has come to church once, but because of the holidays, she got sick, then I got sick we just have not had the chance to meet with her, however.... We had a lesson with her and she accepted a hard baptismal date on the first lesson! Sister Danko, a member, was with us and she bore powerful testimony and the lesson was just perfect! The Spirit was so strong and she was sitting at the edge of her seat just in awe as we told the first vision! She said that she will pray and read, and do everything to be prepared to be baptized! Such a blessing for the branch here in Lutsk, she is wonderful and this area has not had a baptism for over a year.I am so excited for her and for this branch! Missionary work, it is happening again!!!!

These past few weeks I have really been studying trials and why they happen. Sister Edwards and I could just kept saying that it is after the trial of our faith that we receive the blessings. However, trials are hard. They really are just plain hard sometimes. We are tried and tested to our limit, but we are not alone, only when we walk away from God are we ever alone. He will test us though and try us, more than we could ever imagine. He will stretch us more than we would ever stretch ourselves, but He will never leave us alone. Ever.
I found this verse in Peter, I am now trying to read through the New Testament, and it has really been a verse that has touched me:

Peter 1:7-9 

  7 That the ^atrial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the ^bappearing of Jesus Christ:

 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet ^abelieving, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

 9 Receiving the ^aend of your ^bfaith, even the ^csalvation of your souls.

Our trials are growing experiences. They test and try us, but they really are a blessing. They are of more value than gold. They help refine us to become more like Him. Remember that!

Craziness

 

Oh. MY. GOODNESS! So much has happened, and yet not really anything has happened at the same time. I am just going to lay it all out on the table and my mother can edit it as she pleases so that not everyone knows how horrible of a person I truely am.

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KABRIE, ALLOA AND HAYLEE!!!! Sorry, I really did remember the birthdays, but some crazy things have been happening around here. I hope that you girls had a great birthday, and that Haylee will have a great birthday this week!

Okay, so I will just update you on the current situation... I have now been in the hospital 3 more times? I think. I have gone to a specialist and it is an allergic reaction. I am not in hysterics (at least not all the time). My bum is black and blue from shots and it has just been crazy and a half! I pretty much have slept all week because they put me on a steroid (from the mission doctor) and it has kind of made me go a little crazy! I would not suggest going to Ukraine if you want the world's classiest medical care. Everything is under control now though.

I read through the email that I sent last week and yeah, pretty much it all just kind of repeated itself over and over again and I slept a lot. I have been trying to think of what to say all week, because it has been a week....

I think it would be easier to just do it day by day at this point...

Monday-Left internet and went with Elder Jolstead and Elder Mollinet to the doctor, a specialist recommended by the most amazing couple in our branch. I have pretty much deemed Elder Jolstead as my "dad," Sister Edwards I call "mom" and Elder Mollinet is either a little brother or the puppy because he is just always making me laugh and smiling, even when I am half dead and not thinking clearly. They gave me another shot and told me that it is an allergy and that what I was doing was normal and just to keep sleeping and moving on.

Tuesday-Pretty much slept all day. We left for District Meeting, the Elders teased me, but all was well. Pretty much slept all day.

Wednesday- Had a lesson, thought I was going to die, slept pretty much the rest of the day.

Thursday- Still sick, still can't breath, coughing up a lung and a half because I was having mucus breaking up in my lungs (apparently that is what the mission doctor told me when I called him and asked why I was coughing now) They wanted to put me on some MORE medications.

Friday-Let us just talk about Friday... I am pretty sure that when I came on my mission to Ukriane I didn't picture myself at 9:00 at night, barely breathing washing my clothes in my bathtub because our washer broke. But, not only washing clothes in a bathtub, but having to heat the water on our stove because all the heat in our apartment went out. Yeah, this happened right after we tried to light the oven and my companion literally almost died and I got to cut 2 inches of her hair off because it was singed by the fire that exploded out of our oven. I am not even kidding you. We cried. Both Sister Edwards and I sat down on the ground and just cried. Usually I could just laugh at these things, but it was just too much! We hadn't done missionary work in days, we were freezing in the apartment, had no clean clothing, I still couldn't breath, her hair had just been singed by gas explosion of our oven and it was just.... it was hard. There is no other word for it. Elder Peterson and Elder Mollinet (they were on exchanges) brought some heaters from that apartment for us to have for the night.
Not that we needed them, because we had another midnight hospital run. Again. Elder Lippert and Elder Jolstead came with us. It is getting a little too routine around here. We have seen them a lot lately and I never knew that they could do stand up comedy.

So, Saturday morning; another doctor appointment. After that I was done. I called my mission president and just said "President, listen, I need to have a conversation with you..." and I just told him that I wasn't going to take another pill and that I was done with everything. I needed to get my head back.

Bottom line, I just realized as I was going through this week of everything that happened... I am just grateful for the atonement. I can tell you that I think all of this started from an allergic reaction, (I also colored my hair, which is what the Elders think that started all of this). However, I have learned such a bigger lesson from all of this and it all just came together. My companion is so amazing and she has had to go through some rough things just in the 1 and 1/2 transfers that she has been here, but I couldn't have done it without her. I know that there is no way, no how, I could have made it without the help of the great Elders that we have here (Not kidding, Elder Jolstead and Elder Mollinet deserve the best of the best masions is heaven) and I could not have done this first and foremost without God, His son Jesus Christ, or the Atonement. Everything is back to normal though. I have one more doctor appointment today and then I am free, my head is now clear, no more meds and it is looking bright.

I agree with my District Leader when he said if we could just find Sister Edwards and I a new apartment and I can breath regularly again we will deem it a successful transfer.

Hives

Ok, so the last couple weeks we have been off on our P-Day schedule because of the holidays the last couple of weeks, this week it is back to normal and all is well, I see no reason to change it again in the coming weeks. I cannot even remember all that has happened!

Sister Edwards and I have a new investigator!!!! YAY!!! Sister Edwards was sitting next to her on a marshrootka and she helped us find our way to where we needed to go. She is 15 and her name is Maria. We had a meeting with her on Friday and she accepted a soft baptismal commitment. It was amazing! The spirit was so strong on lesson it was so great! She said that she just wanted to learn all we had to tell at once. She is the greatest! Unfortunatly she couldn't go to church on Sunday because her family was going out to the village, but we have meetings set up with her for this next week.

Friday night, that is when all the crazy stuff happened! So, remember that one time when I drank juice and ended up in a Ukrainian hospital because I could not breath?! So, funny story.... I don't think that it is juice that I am allergic to. So, I have had hives and I don't know why the last week or so, then Friday night I go to bed and at about 11:00 can't breath and I get to call Elder Jolstead, my district leader, telling him that I cannot breath and away to the hospital I go again! YAY! I hate Ukrainian hospitals, they are freaky! Because all four of the Elders are in the same apartment Elder Jolstead and Elder Lippert, the two "oldest" missionaries came, they can translate for me a lot easier than my companion who has only been in the country a month. They met us at the hospital. Elder Lippert got to be my translator, I got two huge shots and then was fine. They gave me a blessing afterward and all was well.

The next morning we all slept in a bit, we didn't get home until 1 in the morning. It was crazy, I just like to be the problem child. I called the mission doctor and I am now sporting the latest in nerdy fashion by now having an inhaler. It is quite great! I feel just so awesome carrying that thing around. 

Sunday was Elder Mollinet and Elder Peterson's birthday, so we made them lunch and brownies. We brought it to the church for them to take home. It was a "Happy Birthday" slash "Sorry for being such problematic children" gift for four of them.

During sacrement however, I wasn't able to breath again! I used the inhaler and Elder Mollinet had some benadryl and therefore, I survived. After church I went home and slept until 8 at night. It is just taking a lot out of me. My poor companion gets to be my mother. I have told her to stop praying for patients and for the Elders to stop praying for service opportunities because my health just cannot handle it anymore. When I woke up last night though, I couldn't breath again and the inhaler didn't work. Back to the hospital again.

I hate Ukrainian hospitals. It is aweful! This time Elder Jolstead and Elder Mollinet came, that was an adventure. We went to a different one, because we wanted to find out the solution to the problem rather than just getting another shot and calling it good. However, this hospital was pretty much a joke and the scariest experience of my life. We just left it was so ridiculous, they said that I just had a headache and told me to take a tylenol or something. Pretty sure that I didn't just have a headache unless your breathing is affected by pain in your head...? I have a really cool print out of my heart rate though, that is kind of cool and will definately be put in my journal.

The second hospital that we went to was the one we had gone to earlier. The doctors there were mean! Elder Jolstead almost left becuase he was getting so frustrated with one of them, it was kind of funny. I probably would have laughed had I not been trying to breath. Elder Jolstead doesn't say a whole lot and is super just calm and sweet, so to see him get upset with something it was saying how bad it really was. They made me go to all these different rooms and this one doctor was just being so ridiculous, I finally just ended up in tears because I was just so frustrated with everyone and everything.

I hate not being able to tell them what I need done and they have no idea what they are doing. The doctor prescribed camomile tea and told me that I wasn't having problems breathing I was just stressing out....? Pretty sure that I don't just go to hospitals for fun or when I am stressed. Instead of trying to find the solution to the problem I just got the shot and went home. It was already midnight at this point and just getting more ridiculous by the minute. At one point I called Elder Terry and Elder Millard, the assistants to the president and also they happened to be with me when I had to go to the hospital the first time, I got the Uzh doctor's number from them. He speaks english and so we were able to tell him what was going on and he told the doctors at this hospital over the phone. Still didn't solve much. I just took the shot and wanted to go home.

So, now I am on a strict diet, I have to record everything I eat and if it happens again, who knows. I have my district leader living on pins and needles, every 10 minutes checking on my breathing and I am sure he just cringes everytime the phone goes off. Oh, the joys of foreign country living!

So, yeah in about 4 days all of that happened. But now, all is good and we are just living it day by day. Hopefully soon we will be able to get to the bottom of whatever this is! I hope that your week has been great!

Love you!

  Sister Shaughnessy

Happy New Year

  Ok, so first I need to apologize for not being able to email last week. We kind of had this weird event that made us have to move out of our apartment super quickly, taking up most of our P-day. It was quite the adventure, but we are now living in the Elders apartment and both sets of elders are doubled up in the other apartment until we get a new one. My poor district leader is probably ready to be done with us sisters here, but hey, we just have to laugh. It is just a sign that great things are happening here in Lutsk, we just decided.

 

Last Monday we were able to meet with Yana, a lady who has 2 children and came to english, it was a wonderful meeting. We met just to help her with english as service and of course share a spiritual thought at the end. For the spiritual thought we decided to just ask her about the role that God had played in her life. She has had friends and family members pass away, she explained as she told her view on God. Sister Edwards then asked if she believed that she could see them again, she was unsure and said she would just have to wait until the next life to see. As she was speaking I pulled the picture I have of Janna, Bridger and KennaDee out of my bag. I showed her the picture and explained what had happened. I told her how hard it was for everyone after they had passed away, then explained as hard as it was the comfort in knowing the plan of salvation helped. I know that I can and will see them again.
  By the time it was all over the spirit was incredibly strong and I was crying, she was crying, Sister Edwards was crying. It was amazing! She agreed to meet with us again and talk about the gospel. It was so powerful and so perfect! Sister Edwards and I were to grateful and overwhelmed after she left. Great things are happening in Lutsk!

We also hav gotten to celebrate New Years and Ukrainian Christmas since I have last written. New Years is CRAZY!!!!!! They don't even begin to celebrate until midnight and it is tradition to stay up all night and party! We had fireworks going off at midnight, three in the morning, seven in the morning, 9 in the morning even. They like to party hard. We got up on New Years morning and at 11 in the morning when we first went out the streets were still dead, everyone was still sleeping. It was crazy!

  Because of the way that some people also choose to celebrate the holidays we had to be in by 5 on New Years Eve and New Years Day. We spent New Years Eve at a book table during the day, until we had to go inside, just outside of the farmers market. It was so awesome! My toes had literally frozen solid, but we were talking to so many people and just having so much fun! The people that stopped were just amazing and MIRACLE one of the ladies that we talked to came to church on Sunday! She stayed for all 3 hours, loved it and she wanted to set up a meeting after Christmas. It was so great!

New Years day, we spent moving...

  On Saturday we had the best activity for the branch! We got to go to Rivne, another city about 2 hours away by bus. Members from Riven, Khmelnitsky and Lutsk were all there and we had just a blast. Food, each ward did a skit and musical number ( I have sang more in front of people on my mission than I have in my life before), and even Santa came or Deedum Rose in Ukrainian. It is tradition in Ukraine that children have to recite a poem or song, do a dance or something for Santa before they can recieve a gift. And if the child is too young or shy, the parents have to do it for them. It was so great! A fun ukrainian tradition. Also, in Ukriane, New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas.

  On our way to Rivne Sister Edwards and I had this amazing opportunity to have a guy approach us about the Gospel. He was asking all the right questions and was just awesome. He tested my Ukrainian when he was asking about priesthood authority, I have always just taugh women, haven't really had to go into great detail about how you receive the priesthood before. We got his number, he is from Lutsk. We gave it to Elder Lippert and Elder Peterson to work with him. It is just amazing how loving our Heavenly Father is to us!

  Also, this week President and Sister Lattin were in town. That always makes for a fun time! We had a meeting with them on Monday and it was great! They came to church on Sunday and took part in Sacrement meeting, it was great! Always so fun to see them.

  Yesterday was Ukrainian Christmas, not a huge holdiday here actually. New Years is so much bigger! We had district meeting, which P.S. I love my district, they are the best! Then Sister Edwards and I went with Elder Peterson and Elder Lippert and a member, Lucy, (Lucy is pretty much the most amazing person ever! She speaks english like an american. No accent, gets the humor, sarcasm, just everything, she has served a full time misison in Ukraine and several mini missions as well; rockstar pretty much!). We went with them to deliver some candy gifts to the less actives that have children and sing them a little christmas song. It was so much fun! She knew all of them, so even the people that we, as missionaries, could never get to answer the phone or the door easily let us in with her. It was so great! And, she knows her way to their houses so we didn't have to get lost while trying to use a map. We did have to go through this park in the dark and cross this freaky brindge that I almost died on, but other than that it was so much fun!

  It has been the best time these past couple of weeks, celebrating the holidays from a different perspective and everything that has happened has just made me rely on the Lord even more. He is a real, literal Father in Heaven. There are so many little tender mercies that I notice throughout the day that just make me so aware of Him, and probably several more that I don't even realize or pay attention to. For example, yesterday I was having a little more of a rough day, said a prayer to just ask for support, I needed something to know that someone was aware of me, and then I was doing my hair getting ready to go to district meeting and President Lattin calls, just to say that he appreciates the work that I am doing and that I am great, then ends the phone call. It was truely just a tender mercy of the Lord. So many little things every day. God is there. He knows us. He loves us.

Sister Shaughnessy

Merry Christmas from Ukraine

I hope that you are all having a very Merry Christmas!! It has been so long since I have been able to write, we have had so much happen it will be hard to keep it all straight! Things are going wonderfully here in good old Lutsk. This past week we were able to go into L'viv for Zone Conference and it was such a great experience and I had an absolute blast. Our District Leader Elder Jolstead and Elder Lippert were in Armenia for a visa trip, so it was just Sister Edwards and I, Elder Peterson and Elder Mollinet going into L'viv. We take a four hour bus ride into the city and stay with the Sisters in L'viv.

So Tuesday morning we get ready to go into L'viv and I personally like to make banana bread for some of the Elders that I have previously served with and so I woke up to put some banana bread in the oven while we were getting ready. I hope in the shower and when I come out I hear Sister Edwards say "Um.... hey, like our stove is on fire." So I go into the kitchen and sure enough, she had gone to light to stove top to make some eggs for breakfast and we then had open flames in our kitchen. Don't worry, they were not too big, we put them out with a couple of cups of water.

I called the assistants, because we don't have a District Leader here, and his biggest concern was if the banana bread was still okay, not really but he did have to ask to tease a little bit. So, long story short, we don't really have an oven at the moment and only 3 loaves of banana bread got done, but it is all good. Normal things just don't happen to Sister Shaughnessy. We was actually pretty funny, we were laughing as we had to call to make people aware of it, and try explaining that one in Ukrianian to your landlord.

Wehen we got into L'viv we went to the church and I got to see Olya!!! I was so happy to see her, she didn't know I was coming and she happened to be at the church on a lesson with the Elders. The sisters went and grabbed her for me, we cried! She is so awesome! We talked until Elder Ward yelled and me saying they needed to finish the lesson with her. But once they were done we got to meet and she didn't leave my side until we had to go back home. AH! I love that girl so very much and miss her too! It was kind of fun at the church though because I was there, Olya was there, Elder Millard, Elder Terry and Elder Ward are all serving in L'viv, so it was like a little Uzhgorod reunion, all those Elders were in my first district in Uzh, I should have gotten a picture! It was so great! 

Zone Conference!!! Oh my goodness, we have the absolute most amazing missionaries on the planet serving here in Ukriane, hands down. Everything was just so amazing and uplifting and perfect, I really enjoyed everything that was said and was able to take things from every message discussed, it was wonderful. 

Zone Conference ended at 3 and we were given a challenge to be at the mission home, so President Lattin and his wife's house by 3:35 and to have talked to some people, having really good conversations. Which is a little more of a challenge because in L'viv we are still not allowed to be wearing nametags or openly proselyte. Sister Edwards and I decided to steal from our idea of the flowers the week previous and bought two roses to hand out to people along the way, and we were able to have some wonderful conversations with the people here in L'viv.

At the mission home we got to celebrate Christmas, and celebrate we did. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! I absolutely loved every second of it and it is for sure a Christmas that I will never forget. After that night I feel as though Christmas has already happened. We gathered together as a mission family, we shared the experiences we had just barely talking to the people on the street, and then we sang the Christmas hymns in the Ukrainian hymn book. It was so amazing and the Spirit was just so strong! Then we each had a minute to bear testimony, literally just a minute or two a piece and it was incredible. Missions are hard, they test you mentally like you will never believe. I have never felt more inadequate in my life, and yet I can do; all of us missionaries can do it, but only through Jesus Christ. It is only with His help that we are able to do any of this. It was such a sacred and amazing testimony meeting, one that I will always hold dear to my heart.

After testimony meeting we had dinner, hawaiian haystacks(?) and some delicious Ukrainian bread that is way to good for words. Then we had some time to just enjoy each others company. 

I am more like my mother and grandmother and all my aunts than I would like to admit, and while everyone was socializing a bit I was talking with Tanya, she a member in L'viv that works for the Lattins and helps with the mission home. She and I did all the dishes in the kitchen and got all the food cleaned up, I kicked Sister Lattin and Sister Bodell, the senior sister missionary, out of the kitchen to go have fun with everyone. There was no way they were going to cook all day for 30 missionaries and clean it up too!

After dinner was cleaned up we got Christmas!!!

The Lattins had kept all of our Christmas packages at the mission office for this event. President, Sister Lattin and Brother and Sister Bodell put on Christmas hats, had us all close our eyes and sing christmas songs like, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer while they brought our packages out then we all got to open them all at once. It was so fun, I felt like I was at home with everyone again as we opened our packages... Which P.S. MOM!!!! That package was ridiculous, it was the heaviest and biggest out of everyone and a christmas tree?! WOW!!! And enough goodies to feed all of Ukraine?! Literally, the only thing that I don't have this Christmas that I normally would have is my family and even with that I have my mission family, whom I love SO MUCH!!!! Thank you so much! Grandma too for the pajamas and everything! (I opened it all that night because I was with everyone and it felt like Christmas) You are the BEST!!!! Thank you so much! It couldn't have been better.

The Elders that had to help me carry it all back to the apartments and then back to Lutsk probably didn't appreciate it, but I did. :)

Thursday we left early in the morning and had an adventure on the bus ride home. Thankfully Elder Mollinet and Elder Peterson are wonderful Elders that don't like it when drunk men try to get to friendly with their sisters. It was an adventure, but we survived.

When we got home life all went back to normal with missionary work. Elder Lippert and Elder Jolstead were still gone and barely got back Sunday night from Armenia. Visa trips are crazy! Our investigator pool is still small to nonexistant which is kind of frustrating. We have met some wonderful people though that have potential.

On Sunday we were walking home from church when I saw this little old lady, she is 87 I later found out, carrying a bunch of cardboard boxes along the road. She had a pile that she was trying to get to the paper factory where they give you 7 hrivnya for every so many boxes you bring. We crossed the street to go and helped her. We spent the next hour or more helping her carry all these boxes to the factory with her. She was so nice and just a sweet lady. Her husband and son passed away 21 years ago, she has one other son that lives here in Lutsk with his children and grandchildren. After helping her she agreed to meet with us this week. She is just the sweetest! I can't wait for her meeting.

Transfers are also happening this week, so we got all the information for that. Sister Garrett, my first little trainey is getting moved! She is not in Uzh anymore, but will be in L'viv! I can't believe it! Other than that, things are staying the same here in Lutsk, which I am grateful for! I absolutely love the Memebers here, the kids (cutest kids in Ukaine), and the Elders which we serve with.

Yesterday we had District meeting and it was wonderful, great things are about to happen in Lutsk. We also got to celebrate Christmas Eve a little with our english class, it was so fun! We did "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and all sorts of fun games and singing songs. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Last night Sister Edwards and I wrapped little cheesy gifts for one another and put it under the tree in our room.. but neither one of us could wait, we were still awake waiting to see who would break first. Finally we both hopped out of bed and opened the gifts by the light of our Christmas tree. It was so fun!

Studies this morning we both focused on Christ, seeing as we had already kind of did the celebrating of the holiday in L'viv and a little bit last night. We are so blessed to have this knowledge that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. That He knows us SO personally; He knows it all every heart ache and joy in our lives and he can help us overcome everything, comforting us along the way, He can make our happiness even happier. The Savior is the reason for this season and time of year, He is also the reason why I am here in Ukraine. I miss you all, but I know that there is no other place in the world that I would rather be than where I am right now, in Ukriane with these amazing people and bringing them to this knowledge.

I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas!

Oh, and here is a little poem that Sister Edwards and I (mostly Sister Edwards) came up with to try and explain the wonderful experience that we had this morning.. The grinch literally stole our christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,

Not a missionary was stirring, EXCEPT for the MOUSE

The bread loaves were placed on the table with care,

In hopes that Christmas morning soon would be there.

The missionaries were nestled all cozy in bed,

While visions of peanut butter and bread danced in their heads.

When in the midst of the kitchen there arose such a clatter...

They stayed in their beds not wanting to see what was the matter.

The alarm clock buzzed loudly, and on with the day

When a sudden gasp from Sister Shaughnessy hinted something wasn't okay

I ran to the kitchen still half asleep

"WHERE IS THE BREAD" she yelled, much louder than a peep.

We searched on the table, and then below

The nice loaf of wheat bread- Where did it GO!? 

We checked in the fridge and then in the cabinet

We discussed the possibility of our furry nosed bandit

The search continued until evidence was found:

little pieces of plastic, stuck to the ground.

Our rat friend had feasted, caring not one bit

Of the dreams of bright peanut butter, now dimly lit. 

The grinch literally stole Christmas, bread wrapper and all

Eggs it is.... Eggs for all.